1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to a rotary cutter which is mounted on a work table. More particularly, the invention relates to an assembly for raising and lowering the cutter wherein the assembly allows for rapid, coarse adjustments as well as the fine adjustments. Specifically, the invention relates to such an assembly which includes a lift handle for rapidly raising and lowering the rotary cutter and an adjustment screw for providing the fine adjustments.
2. Background Information
Various types of rotary cutters such as routers are known in the art which are mounted on work tables which provide a work surface on which wood or other work materials may be seated during the cutting thereof by the rotary cutter. A variety of mechanisms are known in the art for raising and lowering the rotary cutter with respect to the table or work surface thereof. Such mechanisms include threaded adjusting screws for finely adjusting the height of the rotary cutter. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,659 granted to Hummel. Such adjusting screw mechanisms and other fine adjustment mechanisms provide accurate height adjustment but are not capable of rapidly raising and lowering the cutter when coarser adjustments are desired. Thus, there remains a need in the art for such a rapid adjustment assembly which is also suitable for use with a fine adjustment mechanism.